


Bad Dreams

by Tabbynerdicat



Series: Stripesverse [20]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series)
Genre: And Of Course - Freeform, Gore, Happy Ending, M/M, Self Harm, but very distressing middle, gay demons - Freeform, there's a lot of anger in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:21:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22201765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbynerdicat/pseuds/Tabbynerdicat
Summary: Anti is troubled by a ghost from his fiance's past, and for a moment, he questions if he's making the right choice after all.
Relationships: Darkiplier/Antisepticeye
Series: Stripesverse [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1598143
Comments: 1
Kudos: 63





	Bad Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the following dialogue prompts:
> 
> 17\. Not the first time someone’s called me that.  
> 21\. Don’t give me that look.  
> 22\. I promise it looks worse than it is.  
> 38\. What did they do to you?!

“Where have you been?”

Anti shrugged, head hanging low, his arms drawn tightly around his body as if he were trying to hide. He seemed down on himself- though for what, Dark couldn’t imagine. Just this morning he’d been fine, but now...

“Just... around.”

“In the manor?”

Anti gazed warily up into Dark’s eyes. He clearly didn’t want to answer that question, and his reluctance only served to fill Dark’s heart with worry. He’d vanished without a trace, he’d left no note or texts to explain- and while Dark knew that Anti was entitled to his secrecy, something had _clearly_ gone wrong.

“It’s... not really your business, Dark. ‘M sorry...”

Incredulous, Dark cupped Anti’s cheek, searching his eyes for at least some possible reason that Anti didn’t trust him with whatever secret he was keeping- and yet he found nothing. Nothing but the facade of a man with too many regrets to count.

“Are you _alright_?” Dark asked him. “Are you hurt? I just-”

“Can’t ye take a _hint_ , Dark?!” Anti snapped, gritting his teeth in frustration. “I don’t want to _fuckin’_ talk about it, I’m _fine_... ‘s just a scratch.”

“A _scra-_ **_where_** , Anti? **Show it to me.”**

“You’re not my fuckin’ _dad_ , Dark-”

“I’m your _fiance_!” Dark growled, his auras forming angry shadows on the walls around them, though it was more out of concern than it was out of rage. “Does that not mean _anything_ to you?!”

“Does it mean _anything to you_ that I don’t wanna _fuckin’_ talk about it?!” Anti repeated, glitching incoherently as he fumed. “I thought that was our _thing_ , y’know, that we _understood_ that sometimes we need space? Fuckin’... I don’t wanna argue with you, _why_ does everything always have to blow out of proportion-?!”

**“ _Excuse me_ , Anti, if you’re _reckless_ and prone to getting yourself in trouble! I _worry_ for you-”**

“Then ye can _stop_ worrying!”

**“What is _that_ supposed to-?!” **

Dark’s retort was cut off with a sharp gasp, shock and horror flooding his senses as Anti wrenched off his engagement ring, clenching it tightly in his trembling fist. 

“Ye don’t wanna honour your promises, huh?” Anti muttered coldly. “Ye don’t wanna let _me_ keep my private life, but I’ve gotta tiptoe around _any_ mention of Celine, or Mark, or god forbid I say the wrong thing about _Damien_! How is that _fair_ , Dark?!”

**“Anti-”**

“If _you_ don’t want to respect that I have _fucking issues_ , maybe we shouldn’t even _get_ married, how about that?!”

**“Anti, _please_...”** Dark swallowed, his nerves alive with fear and regret. “ _Please_ , just calm down, I-”

Anti let out a groan of frustration, shoving the ring into Dark’s hand and burying his face in his palms. “I-I... I can’t f-fuckin’ _do_ this right now, Dark, just... leave me _alone_. Oh, d-don’t... don’t give me _that_ l-look, just... We’ll talk about it... e-eventually...”

Dark tried to reach out- he tried to call, but Anti was already gone. Glitched away as if he’d never even been here in the first place. All that was left of him was the lone ring resting in Dark’s palm- and Dark... what could he _do_? Anti didn’t want him- right now, he’d failed in the only mission that still mattered to him, which was being Anti’s confidant. His partner, his _friend_ \- someone he could trust without question. Dark could do nothing.

_Nothing._

And that thought was _easily_ what pained him the most...

**~0o0o0o0o0~**

Before Anti could use his knife to pick the lock on the front door one of his brothers opened it, looking incredibly concerned. It was Robbie, and he seemed anxious as he tugged Anti inside without warning, closing the door shut behind him.

Anti blinked away the remaining tears in his eyes, about to say something in his defense- but Robbie interrupted him before he could even say a word.

“Host said... you left. Where is... ring?”

Anti sighed through his gritted teeth, heart clenching in his chest- _no_ , he didn’t want to _have_ this talk right now... why couldn’t anybody see it? Why couldn’t they understand that this was difficult enough to face without them crowding him?

“Not now, Robbie-”

“But-”

“I _said_ , not now,” Anti hissed, refusing to look at the hurt expression on his younger brother’s face. “And not _you_ either, Chase, or _you_ JJ... I just want to be left alone, just leave me _alone_!”

“Okay! Okay, shh...” Chase tried to soothe, rounding the corner and glancing at the obvious tan line over Anti’s ring finger. “You know you can always talk to us about-”

“Am I talkin’ to _myself_ or somethin’?” Anti huffed, “What part of _alone_ do _none_ of you understand?! First Dark, then _you_...”

“Dark is _worried_ , Anti, and so he _should_ be!” Marvin snapped, “Yan told me about what happened- from the sound of it he just wanted to cheer you up!”

_“SHUT UP!”_

Anti’s scream rattled the windows, echoed through the hall, startled his brothers severely enough that they all took a frightened step back. He was glitching, _changing_ \- he was falling apart at his very seams. His chest was pulsing rapidly, his neck weeping red, and before he had the chance to escape Robbie was tugging at his sweater sleeve. Anti couldn’t even see the tears in his eyes, vision swimming as his power steadily drained, and... he couldn’t keep up the lie anymore, could he?

“You have... _big_ stripe...”

Anti collapsed to the floor, but not before Marvin had him in a binding curse, levitating him inches above the ground. Chase was panicking, fretting into his ear- and Robbie was crying, and someone that must have been Jackie was whispering reassurances into his ears. He couldn’t hold on anymore. He fell limp, mind opening to accommodate the very terrors he’d been trying to outrun...

_“Ah, there you are... you’re certainly a slippery glitch when you want to be, aren’t you?”_

“Fuck _off_ ,” Anti hissed, blinded by the darkness that was shrouding him, trapped in the confines of his own head. It had all been for nothing, hadn’t it? All of the tension, all of the hurt... he’d still been able to track Anti down.

_“Tut tut...”_

The man in the red tux circled him, contemplating him, watching his every move. He looked like Mark, but he _wasn’t-_ though it wouldn’t be hard to make that connection. Anti had surmised that this was another Iplier ego, but he’d learned rather quickly that he wasn’t someone to welcome with open arms. The man had something against him- something against _Dark_... and for the life of him, Anti couldn’t tell what. But it made him _angry_. It made him want to lash out, and scream, and _kill_.

It frightened him.

“ _You weren’t exactly a planned part of this little narrative, my dear, but you’re playing your part wonderfully... How long have you and Damien been together? One, two years? Forgive me for losing count. And you’d just throw it all away over a silly little betrayal of trust...?”_

Anti breathed heavily through his nose, wanting nothing more than to run this pompous prick through with a knife. “You know _exactly_ why I said what I did, you piece of _shit_... You think you can manipulate me like I’m some fuckin pawn, huh? You haven’t _heard_ of me, have you? I string little bitches like you up and keep them on puppet strings, and _you don’t scare me.”_

_“Oh, I know **I** don’t scare you... but _you _do, don’t you? You think yourself to be a monster... do you prefer that term over others, I wonder?”_

“Well it’s sure not the _first_ time someone’s called me that...” Anti muttered darkly, fists clenching with unbridled rage. “But if you’d like a demonstration I can _show_ you just how much of a monster I can _be_...”

_“Oh, will you? Stop lying to yourself, Anti, you don’t have the_ courage.”

Images flashed through his mind, materialising around him- and with them came the horrible stench of blood, regret, _failure_... He saw the man he’d lashed out at and murdered after his relapse, the broken bottle he’d used to rip out his throat. He saw the way that Robbie had recoiled from him when he’d shouted, tears shining in the whites of his sunken eyes. He saw Dark’s face, concerned and confused, and he saw the broken look of despair he’d never quite witnessed before he’d vanished...

“ _Argh!”_ Anti shouted in anger and pain, the memories dissipating around him as his tears grew thick and redder. “Get _out_ of my head, leave me _alone_! What did I ever _do_ to you?!”

_“To me? Oh, Anti, that’s simple...”_

His grin burned into Anti’s eyes, his condescending figure so similar to Dark’s, yet also so much more _painful_ to look at. He wasn’t Dark, he was an imitation, a _copy_. He was _nothing..._

_“You’re joining the family! It’s about time you acted like it...”_

Anti couldn’t take it anymore- he lunged, knocking the man to the ground and slugging him in the jaw. He grabbed for his crystal-topped cane, and without protest from his assailant, Anti struck. He struck over and over, blow after blow, hardly even _caring_ what he was hitting or when he was missing. His limbs ran with adrenaline, his heart was pounding, his forehead amassing sweat that poured down his bloodied cheeks. There was no longer a face taunting him- no longer a face at _all_. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach, lurching in place, and-

“Anti! Oh, God, he’s coming to- Anti! Hey!”

It felt as though he was underwater, ears muffled to the point where the only noise he could fathom was in intensely dull ringing. He could hear vague sentences, voices hushed with concern- he could feel someone holding his hand. He couldn’t remember who, but...

A teasing, taunting voice echoed insistently through his head, bringing terror back to Anti’s already-strained heart.

_“Remember what I told you, my feisty little plot twist...”  
_

He gasped aloud, chest heaving, suddenly regaining control of his limbs. The rush was intense- it was _horrible_ , and he couldn’t stop his wheezing if he tried. He felt as though he’d run a marathon, trying to escape something so inevitable it was laughable to be afraid.

And it all came flooding back...

“Dude, what the fuck _was_ that?” Chase demanded, careful not to touch Anti’s skin or crowd him. Thankfully, they’d learned their lesson after the last time Anti had broken down in front of them, and they were all keeping their distance. All of them except...

“... Dark?” Anti shivered feebly, suddenly feeling small. _No_ , no- he couldn’t talk to Dark right now. He _couldn’t_ explain why he’d cracked, and snapped, and run away without a goodbye. He didn’t want to address the wound in his stomach that had been cleaned and bandaged while he was out. He didn’t want to remember today, at _all_. 

He just wanted his old life back. His old Darky, his old bed, his old carefree attitude... he just wanted to go back to a time where he felt _safe_.

He just wanted _everyone_ to feel safe.

“I’m here,” Dark promised him, hand wrapped tightly around Anti’s without any sign of letting go. “I came as fast as I could, and... oh, Anti, I’m _sorry_...”

Anti tried to refuse the apology, but could only choke in return- he hacked into his palm, his fingers growing bloody with every cough, eyes brimming with unwitting tears of _pain_.

“You were lucky that Marvin stopped you from moving,” Henrik voiced, walking briskly over to his patient. “You seemed as though you wanted to thrash and writhe- I will ask you _once_ und _once only_. What caused this sequence of events to unfold?”

“Don’t push him,” Chase tried to warn, not wanting Anti to feel pressured. “He’s gone through a lot-”

“He is going to **answer** if he knows what is **good for him...”** Dark muttered, eyes shining a frantic, worried blue. “ _Please_ , Anti... I only want to help you through this, alright? Like I _promised_ to do, remember?”

Yes, Anti remembered. He remembered that night, Dark sinking to one knee and clasping Anti’s hand, spouting forth a mess of lines that had become their always. He’d offered his commitment, and Anti had accepted- and _Anti_ was the one that had broken them apart...

“God, I f-feel like _shit_...” Anti sniffed, blinking back his remaining tears. “I just... I didn’t know what else to d-do, I... I didn’t want you all to think I was _crazy_... or dangerous... or _stupid_. Which is bullshit, I’m _all_ of that, I-”

“You’re _not_ ,” Dark interceded, squeezing Anti’s hand. “You’re _not_ crazy, or dangerous... _maybe_ a little stupid. But then, the best people are, Anti. Please, tell me what happened to you... did someone hurt you? What did they _do_ to you?!”

“ _Dark_ , please...” Jackie interrupted, speaking up for the first time all evening. “Give him a chance to answer ye...”

Anti swallowed, not knowing where to begin. Not knowing if he should say anything, not knowing if he should hold back the _truth_... but that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? He’d promised Dark they’d share everything, the second he put on that ring. He should honour that, shouldn’t he? No matter _what_ would come from it.

He let out a deep, shuddering breath.

“I... I went to have a day nap, an’ then... there was this _voice_. This _man_ , and he was whisperin’ to me, tellin’ me he hadn’t p-planned on having _additional characters_ , whatever the _fuck_ that meant... he _scared_ me, Dark, h-he... he made me remember who I really was. What I _did_... he s-said he’d been lookin’ forward to the day you’d get hitched, an’, h-how... how does he _know_ you? Is he... I don’t...?”

Dark had tensed, clearly recognising the man Anti was talking about- but he offered no explanation. He only looked at Anti with pity and regret, brushing his hand over his lover’s cheeks.

“Did he do this to you, Anti? Did he _hurt_ you?”

“No...” Anti admitted in a small voice, sobbing as he remembered the _pain_. The sorrow, the anger, the urge to cut him _out_ , get him _out_...

“It was _me_...”

**“He caused you to hurt yourself?”** Dark hissed immediately, his auras flashing to life around him. “ ** _He_ did this to you?”**

“Please remain calm, Dark, I _promise_ it looks worse than it really is,” Henrik urged, his own eye twitching despite himself. “The cut was... not that deep...”

**“Not that _deep_?! He forced Anti to _relapse_ , doctor, erasing several _months_ of progress!”**

“I d-don’t even know who he _is_...” Anti shivered, suddenly feeling... _cold_. “I w-woke up, and bandaged it, a-and... I couldn’t _tell_ you, Darky, I didn’t... I didn’t know what to _say_... he told me I was a f-freak, and that you’d _leave_ me, and-”

**“Hush, dear, _please_...”** Dark murmured, trying his best to contain his tumultuous rage. “You’ve said enough to satisfy me, you don’t need to push yourself further... oh, I could _**eradicate**_ **him...”**

“Wer ist he?” Henrik asked, also looking like he was ready to explode with anger at the way the stranger had treated Anti.

“ ** _He_ is my oldest headache...”** Dark grimaced coldly. “ **He thinks he can lay claim to you as well? He’s _dead_ wrong... oh, when I’m through with him, he’ll wish he’d _never_ survived that bullet...”**

“Who _is_ he?” Chase demanded, folding his arms. “Because if this is how he wants to play, _fuck yes_ I’m joining the fight. _Nobody_ fucks with my family and gets away with it...”

“ _Damn straight_ ,” Marvin agreed, visibly restraining his own magical energy as best as he could. Anti could still feel the agitation rolling from him in waves, spiking fear in his chest as he remembered how it felt to be on Marvin’s bad side...

“Robbie... _smash_ ,” Robbie added, standing protectively by Anti’s side. Jameson, not wanting to feel left out, punched his own palm with a clenched, tightly-packed fist. His eyes were steely and determined like Anti had never seen them before.

“He won’t get away with this,” Jackie promised.

“Unfortunately, he very well _might,”_ Dark grimaced, the ringing of his aura now practically unbearable. “He believes himself the hero of his little tale of woe, and _now_? **_Now_ , he’s come for the one person he shouldn’t even have dared to _think about_. But he’s a fool if he thinks I’ll ever let you fall victim to his traps again, dear... the next time his pathetic face emerges in either of our minds, I’ll stop at _nothing_ to make him pay...”**

Henrik cleared his throat, snapping his fingers to draw Anti’s attention. He gestured to the dressed wound on Anti’s stomach, handing him a bottle of antiseptic and a small jar of pills.

“For the healing process- it will be nasty, but I have faith you will recover well. If you have any problems with your stitches and Edward is not available, do not hesitate to give me a call.”

“Aren’t I...” Anti swallowed, confused, “Aren’t I s-staying here? You _never_ let me leave after I...”

Henrik shook his head with a sigh. “Usually that would be the case, yes. But Dark has other plans for you. I do believe that both of you need to have a _serious_ talk...”

**“We do,”** Dark agreed, subtle hands curling protectively around Anti, dark mist-like clouds forming around them and masking their escape from the crowded clinic. When the smoke cleared, Anti was lying in bed, and Dark’s arms were slowly slipping away from him. He sat softly on the bed beside Anti, drawing something familiar from his blazer pocket.

A shimmering silver ring. Anti swallowed nervously.

“Now, dear...” Dark started with a little sigh. “I don’t expect you to have an answer ready for me tonight, and I know we have much to talk about, but I... I want you to know that when you’re ready, we can make this our reality again. I _love_ you, Anti, so much more than the likes of the Actor could ever imagine... I wouldn’t dare stop loving you over something like this. I trust you, and it’s going to be hard, but I _know_ you’ll trust yourself again too. And when you do...”

“I...” Anti shivered, “I was so _scared_ I’d hurt ye, Darky... I was asleep when I did this to _me_ , an’ I... all I could think of was rollin’ over one day an’ _findin’ you all covered in b-blood, an’-”_

“Shh...” Dark soothed him, “That _won’t_ happen, Anti, I _promise_. I won’t let you lose any more progress with your recovery, and I _certainly_ won’t let you lose me too...”

“You s-sure?” Anti sniffed, feeling Dark climb into bed beside him. He tugged Anti closer, cuddling his chest and torso, pressing reassuring kisses to the sides of Anti’s tear-stained face.

“I’m positive,” Dark agreed, resting his head comfortably against Anti’s collar. “But dear... there will be another time to discuss what has happened today. A time where you’re more comfortable, and I... _well_ , I cannot promise to remain calm, but... if you’ll excuse me, I have a _certain_ boneless swine to disembowel in my dreams tonight.”

“... Give him a kick for me?”

“I’ll be doing _everything_ for you...”

A small, tension-filled pause.

“I love you, dear. Sweet dreams.”

He let out a shiver of strangled relief when Dark began to snore, still staring at the ring his lover had left on the bedside table. He picked it up and weighed it, thumbing over it thoughtfully. And without another moment’s hesitation, he slipped it back onto his ring finger, something in his heart that had been gnawing at him all evening finally easing, _passing_. He smiled through tear-stained eyes, unable to glance away.

“I love ye too, Darky...”


End file.
